Master of the Beast
by Artemia Fae
Summary: Daffy is doing pretty well in life, considering that, when he was only a kid, his best friend spontaneously moved across the world. Now Bugs has returned, but he isn't the same. 1) he's distant, 2) he barely speaks and 3) he's always restless. Daffy knows that Bugs is keeping secrets, but is he prepared to pay the price of what it will cost to find out?
1. All That Glitters, Is Not Gold

**_A/N:_ Hello everyone! This idea has been in my head for weeks and I just wanted to get it out. I know I still have a ton of my other fics to update, but seeing that this is summer and I'm supposed to be getting a lot more free time, I figured why not write a short series crossing over two things I love? **

**Anywho, hope you enjoy!**

 **Note: I am not abandoning my other fics, I'm still working on them. I'm just going to juggle them all and hope that I do them justice. ;)**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _As the car made its way down the street, the tanned boy followed it. Though his tiny legs wouldn't be able to keep up, he didn't quit. Because in that car was his best friend, his only friend, and he knew that if he let him just disappear from his sight, that would be the end._

 _The car was too fast and he was too small, too young, too weak. It drove away, without him. But he vowed to himself, just as he had aloud with his friend, that their friendship would remain unchanged no matter how many miles between them..._

* * *

Darren 'Daffy' Bill worked out the hard math equation, or at least, he was trying to, but the distraction of his classmates behind him was making that really hard.

Daffy normally took Biology class time to do his Math homework. A habit he really shouldn't have picked up, that developed quite quickly into his destruction. As he never got it done during Biology - Miss Sharon never allowed that. He still liked to try however...But it was his fault for staying up late watching Sherlock _again_ and ignoring responsibility. Though that season finale was so worth it.

He sat there trying to find X when Liam Turnblad, the class trouble-maker, thought it was a good idea to scare Jessica Moore with his dead frog. Jessica screamed and ran away and chaos ensued as Liam tried to scare other girls with his frog.

Daffy really wished that Miss Sharon would return to class and stop chatting it up with the principal.

He was so busy trying to be productive that he didn't realize that Remi Carrington had sat down beside him until he hears Remi start bragging to Tom Peters and his rowdy gang about the photos he took at his Uncle's estate. Daffy fought the urge to roll his eyes.

Daffy had to try not to leap up and hug Miss Sharon when she finally returned, he was that grateful to not have to deal with the distractions anymore.

The class fell silent upon seeing her and Daffy took the opportunity to fix his uniform tie, while hiding his math book under his Biology textbook.

"Good afternoon class."

They all sat down and turned their heads to face her. "Good afternoon, Miss Sharon."

"Class we have a new student, I want you all to welcome Bernard Benedict." She looked at the direction of the doorway and naturally so did the rest of the class. When no one appeared, Miss Sharon cleared her throat. "It's alright, Bernard. There's no need to be shy."

The tension in the room thickened and all went quiet, finally someone appeared. He was tall and slim, hit by puberty like the rest of them, but it seemed as if puberty was kind to him. His skin was pale, his grey hair was almost white and his shocking blue eyes, stared back at the class in fear. Daffy did not think of anything else. He recognized the teen immediately. "Bugs!" He called out, before running into his friend's arms.

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 _ **A/N:**_ **Thank you for reading! More to come soon! Stay awesome!**


	2. The Deepest Cut

_**A/N:**_ **Hello everyone! Please forgive me for the long delay, I had a bunch of stuff to work on. I appreciate every ounce of patience that you guys spare on me. You all are so great!**

 **Special thanks to Harmony Valenka Smith for being wonderful and inspiring.**

 **And thank you guys for sticking around. Your support means a whole lot to me. I adore you guys!**

 **Please enjoy!**

* * *

Daffy tried to keep it together, really he did, but upon seeing his old friend again, it was as if something clicked in him. It was as if he were a child again, being with the only person who truly understood him, the person who was his entire world who disappeared without a trace. And now he was back. It was all going to be okay.

Bugs stiffened in his hold, not returning the hug. But Daffy didn't care, it just made him embrace him tighter. "Bugs, I can't believe you're back." He whispered, trying to fight the tears that threatened to come.

"Darren?" Miss Sharon called. "Do you know him?"

Daffy raised his head a little to look at the teacher but didn't let go of his friend. "He's my best friend, Miss."

She raised an eyebrow, obviously finding this whole show very dramatic. "Well, I'm glad you two could have your little reunion but I'd like to get on with class."

And Daffy realized that he might have been holding Bugs a little too long. He cleared his throat, smiled at Bugs who wasn't really looking at him and went to his seat, ignoring the stares of the other students.

She turned to the class. "Where are you from Bernard? Syracuse, like Darren?"

Bugs looked over at Daffy and nodded. Everyone waited, thinking that he was going to say more but to their disappointment, Bugs neither said nor did anything else.

Miss Sharon nodded. "The principal told me that you've moved here from South America. What's it like there?" Her eyes held burning curiosity.

Daffy blinked. South America? This whole time Bugs had been living in exotic places and probably doing really cool things like exploring jungles while Daffy was here battling the cold and watching Netflix. Searing, unexplainable jealousy erupted in Daffy and he became sullenly quiet.

Bugs didn't get a chance to respond to the question. Small gasps and whispers echoed around the class before students started surrounding him, asking Bugs all sorts of questions and peering at him as if he were some sort of alluring celebrity.

Bugs just blinked, stunned by the sudden attention put on him. It didn't last long though, because after a couple of minutes, Miss Sharon broke up the crowd. She ushered Bugs to a seat by the window and began teaching Evolution. Daffy suspected that she was probably trying to seem busy in case the principal heard the racket and came to check on the class.

Unfortunately, although Evolution was a topic Daffy loved, he had already read the whole textbook last weekend and he wasn't particularly interested in having all that information repeated. Before he knew it, he was tuning out Miss Sharon in favor of watching Bugs.

A few times, as class went on, he found himself noticing that Bugs looked extremely uncomfortable to say the least. He wasn't exactly sitting still, his fingers kept tapping lightly on the table and his eyes kept flickering around the room. Perhaps, Daffy thought, it was because Bugs was aware of the amount of eyes still on him, though this time their classmates were trying to be a little more subtle.

Daffy knew that he was guilty of staring as well and he knew the right thing to do would be to look away, but he found it hard to focus on anything else. It had been _ten years_ since he last saw Bugs, ten whole years without any sort of contact. For all he knew, Bugs probably fell off the face of the earth. It was relieving to see him again.

Bugs had been nothing but a vague memory for so long that it seemed as if he had been a ghost and not simply Daffy's long lost friend. It never should have been that way, their friendship was supposed to be timeless. Now, Daffy knew that it would be a crime not to try to fix any issues between them. Every mile that had been between them, every year that they hadn't contacted each other, everything that they had to experience separately was all irrelevant. If their friendship was meant to be, then nothing could really stand in their way, right?

Daffy sighed and started doodling in his notebook. He was going to make things right, what did he have to lose?

* * *

When the lunch bell rang, Daffy took it as an opportunity to speak to Bugs, but as soon as he turned around, Bugs was nowhere in sight.

Puzzled, Daffy walked out into the courtyard, thinking that Bugs probably went outside to eat. He walked around but didn't see him. Scratching his head in confusion, he turned to look back at the school thinking of all the places he probably didn't check when he spotted a shadow on the school's rooftop. _No one_ went up there, not even the fearless seniors, mainly because it was pretty high and a major pain to climb all those steps. That and it was off limits.

But Daffy was curious. Who was the brave soul willing to venture where no other student had gone before? He squinted his eyes to see better and gasped when he had his answer. Bugs' silver hair shone in the light as he stared across at the horizon, seemingly unperturbed by the fact that he was practically one with the clouds at a height like that.

As if Daffy's body had a mind of its own, he found himself climbing the stairs that led to the roof. By the time he made it to the last step, his lungs ached and his legs were on fire. How did Bugs even get up there so fast? Was everyone from South America so physically fit?

He pushed the door open and was immediately blinded by bright sunlight. His vision cleared to reveal Bugs watching him with surprise.

"What are you doing up here?" Daffy questioned.

Bugs ignored him in favor of turning around and quietly watching the sky. "I like to be left alone." He said after a few beats of silence.

It shocked Daffy completely. Daffy hadn't heard him speak in a decade and he sounded so different. It was weird - his voice was deeper and more gravelly. Puberty had been _way_ too kind to him.

Daffy took a space beside Bugs and looked out at the breathtaking view. From so high they could see the whole courtyard, the school parking lot and even some of the city of Port Charles in the distance. The sky today was a brilliant blue. It contrasted prettily with the orange and gold leaves on the trees. In fact, it was so picturesque that Daffy could almost forget about his immense fear of heights. Almost.

Taking a nervous step back from the railing, Daffy asked. "You don't remember me, do you?"

He chanced a glance at Bugs who was staring back at him with an unreadable expression. It was quiet and in the silence, Daffy realized that he didn't really want to know the answer. The chance of whether or not their friendship meant anything of importance to Bugs was not one that he wished to gamble. The pain of knowing the ugly truth would be far worse than he could take right now.

He felt oddly pathetic and ridiculously small knowing that he had left a huge Bugs sized space in his heart for his friend, while it seemed by Bugs' apparent indifference, that he simply had no room at all for Daffy and no wish to make room. "You know what? Forget I even asked."

Bugs blinked, apparently taken aback by Daffy's loss of enthusiasm. His mouth opened slightly and his eyes softened as they took in Daffy's expression. He seemed sympathetic and for some reason that stung more than if he had just laughed in Daffy's face.

Daffy left, descending the stairs with a heavy heart and tearful eyes. It took a decent few minutes before his hands could stop shaking.

* * *

"Did you hear about the tiger found in Lorewood Forest?" Liam exclaimed, so loudly that his Chemistry partner Jessica almost dropped the empty beaker she was examining. For the first time since third grade, Liam looked more serious than Daffy'd ever seen him.

"He probably escaped from the zoo. That wouldn't be the first time an animal got loose." Jessica said.

Liam shook his head vigorously. "No, no. This tiger was white, one of those rare ones. I'm pretty sure it would make front page news if our humble little zoo had one of them." He said 'humble' and 'little' like an affront.

Remi Carrington and Courtney Dodson both shared the same fearful look. "Is it wild and dangerous?" Courtney asked.

Liam shrugged. "I don't think it was. Honestly, word around town is that the tiger is pretty chill. Still, you won't catch me going back to those woods again until they at least have it in a safe place."

Jessica frowned. "You mean in captivity?"

"Maybe. I mean, I don't really like the idea of animals being in cages, but it's better than some crazy hick getting scared and hurting the poor beast. Tigers are cool as hell. They deserve good lives."

Jessica raised an eyebrow. "Wow, Liam. Who would have known that under all of that," she made a show of waving her hands in the air, " _personality,_ you would have a caring heart?"

Liam shrugged and started measuring out liquids.

Daffy bit his lip while trying to study the periodic table. His lab partner, Eric busied himself trying to get the bunsen burner at the right temperature. "So Daffy, you coming down to Devlin's Beach with me?"

Daffy nodded, smiling fondly at his friend. They always had a good time at the beach. Daffy had a fascination with seashells and Eric liked watching the view from the rocks. It was always peaceful there. Right now, Daffy craved the quiet. Thankfully, he didn't have Chemistry with Bugs so he didn't have to be reminded about the fiasco on the roof. Even thinking about it was enough to kill his mood.

Eric started waxing poetic about Archie comics while flawlessly mixing the chemicals needed to create the concoction of the day. While Daffy watched him, documenting Eric's method on paper, completely content knowing that he didn't have to do the mixing. The first time Daffy had to handle the chemicals, he burned a hole through the sleeve of Mr. Morgan's lab coat. Now, the Chemistry teacher made it a point to pat Daffy on the back whenever class ended with everyone's eyebrows intact.

Daffy actually let out a sigh of relief when class was dismissed and he realized that he made it through the day without having to use the fire extinguisher at least once.

* * *

Devlin's Beach was quickest to get to by walking through the hiker's trail through Lorewood Forest. Even so, Daffy and Eric never really took that way often as the forest, as beautiful as it was, was also mildly creepy.

Rumor had it, that spending too long in there would make you start seeing things. Many an urban legend was born from Lorewood. Daffy didn't really believe in urban legends, although he liked the thrill of doing certain things that made his skin pebble. Lorewood Forest had an undeniable dreamlike essence about it that often awoke the inner adventurer in Daffy.

Eric was whistling beside him as Daffy thought about the weathered bits of green glass he sometimes found on the shore. They weren't as cool as seashells, but with the right amount of creativity, they could be used to make something nice.

Daffy basked in the fading sunlight that shone through the canopy above them, they would have to move fast if they wanted to make it to the beach before it got too dark. It wouldn't be as fun if they had to depend heavily on their flashlights.

He was trying to pick up the pace when he suddenly realized that he was walking alone. He turned around, spotting Eric who looked absolutely pale. "What's wrong?"

Eric pointed a shaky finger ahead of Daffy. "I saw something pass."

Daffy scratched his head and stared at his friend quizzically. The only thing Eric would be able to spot in the dimming light would be a chipmunk. Eric suddenly turned his head and shouted. "There! It passed again. Like a flash of silver. D-do you think it's a ghost?"

"Don't be ridiculous. It's probably some hikers. I wouldn't worry about -" But Eric stiffened, immovable like a statue. Daffy could feel Eric's fear as it bounced off of him in waves. It frightened him especially since he couldn't understand the reason for this change in mood. Of course, until he felt the warm, damp mist of a breath ghosting across the back of his neck.

Daffy turned around, as slowly as he could considering the sheer terror overtaking him and saw the snarling tiger, looking ready to pounce. Daffy couldn't even scream, before he could even react, the tiger pushed past him to chase Eric who ran away at a speed Daffy never even knew he was capable of.

With his face pressed against the soft earth, he could feel the sweat dripping down his neck, hear the gentle fluttering of birds' wings as well as the thudding of paws on marshy ground in the distance. His heart was thundering in his chest and his limbs felt heavy. There was a sharp sting ringing from his palm and when he looked he could see that his hand had fallen into a thornbush. The warm, sticky sensation of blood oozing from his hand made his stomach twist. He closed his eyes as the adrenaline continued to spike through him.

He could no longer hear Eric, but frighteningly he could hear the deliberate footfalls and low growl of the tiger returning. With Daffy's uninjured hand, he gestured in warning for the animal to not come any closer.

When the tiger made no attempt to stop, Daffy's eyes flew open. Burning brown met frost blue. The tiger's nostrils flared at the metallic scent of Daffy's blood in the air and Daffy said a prayer, sure that this was going to be his last minutes. He could feel the crimson fluid dripping from his hand onto the ground below and, frankly, it was making him dizzy.

To his grateful surprise, the tiger did not pounce on him. Instead, the large beast began to shake almost violently so. Daffy took a step back ready to make a run for it when a tortured scream broke through the animal's chest. As much as Daffy valued his life, he couldn't watch the tiger convulse in pain without even making an attempt to help him.

So with his very sad little dose of courage, he reached forward to touch the beast who was slowly starting to look less and less like a tiger the more he shook. "Don't!" Came a gravelly, anguished voice.

Daffy blinked watching as the animal warped and changed into a human male. Frantic blue eyes stared at Daffy's slashed palm, watching the blood with a mixture of shock and confusion.

Daffy winced as the pain shot through his hand and up his arm with every beat of his heart. Buckling from the effort it took to stand up any longer, he fell to his knees while the person stared back at him. He was no longer a tiger, although his pale skin and azure eyes held the whispers of a force way beyond Daffy's comprehension. A capability humans weren't supposed to possess.

Daffy blinked at him feeling surprised, puzzled, elated but also betrayed. "Bugs?" Was the last thing he whispered before the pain became too much. Whether it ached horribly from the gash in his hand or if it hurt from realizing that he hadn't any knowledge of _who_ Bugs was anymore, he had no clue. But one thing he was sure of - he now no longer even knew _what_ Bugs was anymore. And that was the sad truth.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ **Thank you for reading! More to come soon! Love you all!**


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